


10 Things the Avengers Know About Charlie Stark nee Weasley

by Whedonista93



Series: Red & Gold [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 10 Things, Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe, F/M, Family, Fem!Charlie Weasley, Fred Weasley Lives, Pepper Potts is Gideon Prewett's Daughter, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-10 03:18:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17418041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whedonista93/pseuds/Whedonista93
Summary: 10 things the Avengers know about Tony's wife and how they learned them





	1. Call her Charlie

1) Call her Charlie.

“Charlene was some great grand something or other, and my people are all about tradition,” Charlie grouses after Bruce, trying to be polite, had used her full name. “Tradition is all well and good to a point, but for Merlin’s sake, Charlene is a dodgy old aunt with too many cats and not enough friends or shagging in her life. I have no cats and plenty of shagging.”

“My wife is too badass to be a Charlene,” Tony interjects supportively without breaking eye contact with the honest-to-goodness dragon Charlie had flown into New York at the end of the battle with the Chitauri. “She has dragons, not cats.”

“Thank you, love,” Charlie’s smile turns into a scowl when she actually turns her gaze toward Tony. She calls out something in a language none of them recognize and the dragon faces away from Tony with an indignant huff.

“Awh, come on,” Tony whines. “It’s no fun when you let me win.”

His pout melts into a shit-eating grin when she kisses him in a manner completely indecent for company on her way to the raid the freezer for meat to feed Daisy.


	2. She's a Witch

2) She’s a witch.

Steve’s ma would’ve tanned his hide to hear him say it, but Tony’s wife is a witch. As in flies on a broom and brews potions and casts spells _witch_. He thinks he’s seen it all by the time the battle with Loki and his alien army ends. Then _she_ shows up. Well, in a manner of speaking. A voice, high and lilting in a manner that reminds him so much of Peggy his heart momentarily clenches, floats out of thin air before cursing and revealing itself to belong to a stunning redhead who Steve knows, at first sight, has seen as much war as he has, if not more.

She shows up and snarks Tony, then follows them back to the Tower and points a stick at Loki, muttering a few words that send him crashing around the room a little more, which makes all of them feel a little better about the whole day. When she’s done, she leaves him gasping on the floor and turns to Tony. “What’s to be done with him, then?”

“He shall be returned to Asgard to face judgment,” Thor announces.

Charlie snorts. “Yeah, no.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“His crimes are against Earth, and he shall be tried for them here.”

“Midgard’s people do not have the power to hold him, m’lady.”

Charlie quirks an eyebrow and flicks her wand, sending Loki smashing into the ceiling yet again. “You were saying?”

“M’lady –”

“No. This is not up for debate, son of Odin. He is your family, and he is royalty. How can we assure your world’s punishment fitting of the crimes he committed on ours?”

“She has a point,” Natasha agrees.

“Tell the muggles what you will,” Charlie allows, “but let him be tried by my people.”

“His magic…” Thor protests weakly.

“Is clearly matched by mine, and I am but an average practitioner. Imagine what the more powerful of my people could do.”

Something in Thor’s expression hardens.

Charlie sighs and waves her wand. “ _Expecto patronum!_ ” A silvery blue dragon bursts from her wand. “The party responsible for the attack on New York,  Loki of Asgard is at Stark Tower. Muggles cannot manage proper containment.” The dragon flies out the window with another flick of her wand.

“MACUSA?” Tony asks.

Charlie nods before turning back to Thor. “I don’t think you understand, Thor, I am _not_ giving you an option. Loki will be tried on Earth. I see you calculating if you could fight me for him. I assure you that you would lose. I have spent too much of my life in the midst of a war to be cowed by the likes of you. It would take the whole of your little team to best me, and even if my husband were inclined to fight against me –”

“I’m not!” Tony calls from the bar.

“– there are Aurors on the way to take custody of Loki. Assuming there would be time between besting me and the Aurors arriving, Daisy would eat you before you could get away.”

Thor deflates and speaks so low Charlie almost doesn’t catch it. “He is my brother.”

Charlie approaches and lays a hand on his shoulder. “I understand. He will not be put to death, nor will you be banned from him, but he will face what he is due.”

Thor nods. “I yield to thee, m’lady.”


	3. She has a huge family

3) She has a huge family.

Between Stark’s tech and Charlie’s magic, the Tower is livable within days, and somehow, the whole of the Avengers find themselves with their own residence floors. Tony is being cagey about what he’s calling communal floors, so in the meantime, his and Charlie’s living room becomes the team’s gathering place.

Clint nearly shits himself when their fire place flashes green and a person walks out of it. “Charlie! A person just came out of your fire place!”

Charlie comes careening around the corner, seconds later, barefoot, in cutoff shorts and one of the tank tops Tony likes to wear in his lab, wand drawn. She drops it when she sees the man standing in the middle of her rug. “Merlin’s balls, Percy! Couldn’t have warned a girl you were coming?”

Percy sniffs disdainfully. “I am here on official business, Charlene.”

Charlie’s eyes narrow dangerously. “Then tell the Ministry to send someone I’ll think twice about hexing into next century.” She turns on her heel.

“Charlene!”

Charlie spins back and mimics his panicked tone. “Percival!”

“I really must speak with you.”

“Bugger off, Perc. I haven’t done anything to warrant the Ministry being put out with me.”

Percy sighs. “Charlie –”

“Bugger off, Percy. Honestly… you were so much less of a prat right after the war. When’d you shove the stick back up your arse?”

“Charlene!”

She raises her wand again. “Last warning, Percy.”

Percy scurries back to the fire place and vanishes with another puff of green.

Charlie drops down next to Clint on the couch and blows her bangs out of her eyes with a huff.

Clint eyes her curiously.

She shrugs apologetically. “Little brother. Percy. Always a bit of a black sheep in the family, stiff upper lip and all that.”

“Right,” Clint drawls.

The fireplace flashes green again and this time, a dark skinned hair with bushy hair, held in a loose knot atop her head by virtue of a pencil, appears.

Charlie beams and leaps up. “Hermione!”

Hermione accepts Charlie’s hug readily. “Hello, Charlie. I warned them sending Percy was bad form.”

Charlie scoffs. “Started with ‘Charlene’ right off the bat. Bloody wanker.”

Hermione visibly fights down a grin. “Be nice.”

Charlie rolls her eyes. “No promises. What’s the Ministry want, anyhow?”

“Simply to assure the Statute has not been broken,” Hermione says carefully.

Charlie rolls her eyes so hard Clint’s worried they’re going to get stuck facing the back of her skull. “Clint, this treasure is my sister-in-law. My baby brother Ron’s wife. She’s going to be the youngest Minister of Magic in our history.”

“Uh, congrats?” Clint greets. “Nice to meet you.”

“You as well, Clint.” Hermione nods politely. “Charlie, really, though…”

“Hermione, you know the laws better than anyone. Any repairs I’ve done to the city have been under the cover of dark and disillusionments to boot. And anyone who’s seen me doing repairs in the Tower knows I’m a witch anyway.”

“About that… well, Charlie, none of them fall under what the Statute covers. Granted, it’s an odd situation, so the Ministry is trying to handle this delicately, but…”

Charlie stares at the other witch for a solid thirty seconds before she collapses back onto the couch and doubles over laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

Charlie straightens and catches her breath. “Bloody hell, you really don’t know? I could’ve sworn you figured it out years ago.”

“Figured what out?” Hermione demands.

“‘Mione, MACUSA knows everything I’ve been up to. Their Statute is almost non-existent. Magic is somewhat commonplace in America.”

“I’m aware their Statute is more lax, but you are still a British citizen and therefore fall under –”

“No, Hermione, I don’t. I have dual citizenship. I’m married to an American citizen.”

Hermione’s face goes blank. “Married?” Her gaze flicks to Clint.

Charlie jerks away from where she was leaning against his shoulder. “Merlin, no! Clint’s aces as a mate, but he ain’t my husband.”

“Well then who the hell is?”

“JARVIS, be a doll and send Tony my way, would you?”

“As you wish, madam,” the AI answers crisply.

Hermione startles. “What the –”

“Artificial Intelligence,” Charlie smiles. “At least that’s what Tony calls it. JARVIS runs the Tower… and Tony’s life.”

Hermione drops into a chair near the fireplace. “Fascinating. Why do you say that’s what Tony calls it? Is that not what it is?”

“To a point,” Charlie cedes. “And all of his other AI’s are solely that, but JARVIS is special.”

“How so?”

“JARVIS _is_ and AI, but he’s also possessed by the ghost of Edwin Jarvis – he practically raised Tony. JARVIS is what made me realize how closely magic and technology could actually be integrated.”

Hermione shakes her head. “Absolutely incredib- Tony bloody Stark.”

Charlie glances over her shoulder a moment before Tony flops over the back of the couch and settles his head on her lap. She smiles at him as she tangles her fingers in his hair.

“You’re married to Tony bloody Stark and you never thought to… bloody hell, Charlie! Does your mum even know?”

Charlie shrugs. “I told her, but I don’t think she believed me. You know how obsessed with muggles da is. So they actually know who Tony Stark is, a bit, at least, from the odd stray tabloid da’s managed to snag. Pretty sure they think I was yanking their chain.”

“Bloody hell,” Hermione mutters, wide-eyed.

Charlie snickers. “Think this is the most I’ve ever heard you curse, ‘Mione. Ronnie’s a bad influence on you.”

Hermione make a rude gesture that just makes Charlie laugh harder. Hermione glares. “Charlie, you’ve _got_ to let them know the truth.”

Charlie sobers. “I know.”

“It’s all legal?” Hermione waves between the two of them.

Charlie nods. “Muggle and magical both.”

Hermione blows out breath, ruffling her bangs. “Very well, I’ll sort this at the Ministry.” She stands. “Take him to meet your parents.”

Charlie grimaces but nods.

“I happen to know that Bill and Fleur are the only ones at the Burrow right now.”

Charlie grins half-heartedly. “Victoire being present would minimize the potential screaming and sobbing… brightest witch of her age, indeed.”

Hermione blushes and mutters a good by before vanishing through the fireplace.

Tony eyes it warily. “You’re about to drag me through that thing, aren’t you?”

Charlie lens down to smack a kiss to his forehead. “Yep!”

“Can I at least change first?”

Charlie hauls him to his feet and inspects him – oil stained boots, ripped jeans, faded band tee, a grease stain on his cheek – as she shoves her feet into her socks and boots. She smiles at him softly. “Absolutely not. You look perfect.” She reaches for his hand and yanks him into the fireplace before he can protest.

She catches him easily when the stumbles out the other side. He doubles over, and squeezes his eyes shut, waiting for the disorientation to subside. He lets out a shaky breath. “Oh, I’d rather fly into space again.”

Charlie cuffs the back of his head lightly. “Not allowed. Ever again. We agreed, remember?”

Tony hums noncommittally and straightens slowly. “Thought you said your family’s house was always a bit chaotic.”

Charlie shrugs. “Mum and dad are empty nesters these days. Come on, anyone here is likely in the kitchen. Mum?”

“Charlie?” A voice calls back. “Is that you?”

“Yeah, mum,” Charlie tugs Tony into the kitchen where a man, a bit older than Charlie but with the same bright red hair, is sitting at one end of long table with a pretty blonde and toddler on his lap. A much older, slightly plumper version of him is seated at the head of the table, and next to him is cheerful looking woman who is the spitting image of what Tony imagines he’ll be looking at in thirty years or so. Charlie’s voice breaks his observations. “Brought someone to meet you. Tony, my mum, Molly and dad, Arthur. My older brother Bill, his wife Fleur, and this little one,” Charlie plucks the little girl from her father’s lap, sending the girl into delighted peals of laughter, “is my niece Victoire. Everyone, my husband, Tony.”

Pandemonium breaks out, and Charlie shamelessly uses her niece as a shield.

Three days after the impromptu meet-the-parents, Tony wanders out of his workshop in the middle of the night to find most of the Avengers sprawled across his living room watching Lord of the Rings, his wife and the one in-law he’d met prior to their marriage critiquing Tolkien’s elves and goblins. Charlie is tucked into one corner of the couch and Ginny is mostly in the center, with her legs slung over Charlie’s.

Tony flops onto the couch at Ginny’s back. She squeals in shock and Tony just grins when she points her wand at the tip of his nose.

Ginny groans and smacks his shoulder. “Are you trying to get hexed, you prat?”

Tony continues to grin unrepentantly. “Good to see you too, little sister.”

Ginny rolls her eyes hugs him as best she can without dislodging her legs from Charlie’s lap before snagging a pillow from the pile on the ground and plopping her head up against Tony’s leg.

Clint throws a handful of popcorn at them. “You interrupted, Stark! Back to the goblins.”

Ginny laughs brightly and obliges.

Somehow everyone falls asleep sprawled across various surfaces in front of the television. Tony wakes up with Charlie completely on top of him, head tucked against his chest under his chin, and both their feet under Ginny’s leg where she’s curled into a ball at the far end of the couch. He turns his head slowly and finds two identical contemplative expressions staring back at him.

Tony quirks an eyebrow. “Safe to assume Fred and George?”

“You know what they say about assuming,” George – _He’s the one missing an ear, right?_ Tony thinks – says.

“But in this case,” Fred continues.

“One and the same,” they say together.

“So, you’re the cad as married our big sister all secret like,” Fred observes.

“Not very gentleman like, the way he went about it, is it, brother?” George asks.

“No, no, not polite at all,” Fred agrees.

Tony feels Charlie shift against his chest and can imagine the glare that must be in place to make the twins flinch back the way they do.

“If you two prats are quite through,” Charlie grumbles, “he married me to save my arse. Not that that’s any of your business.”

Tony scoffs. “As if you didn’t save mine first.”

Charlie shrugs and settles more comfortably against him. “Anyway, be a couple gems and shut your traps before you wake Nat up and she shoots you.”

They mime locking their lips before crossing their arms over their chests and continuing to stare.

Tony screws his eyes shut. “They’re gonna stand there until we get up, aren’t they?”

Charlie sighs. “Yeah. Bleedin’ prats.”

“You love us,” the twins declare.

“I love Gin,” Charlie fires back, reluctantly disentangling herself from Tony. “I’ll start breakfast. Play nice.”

Tony sits up. “You’re really gonna leave me alone with your brothers?”

Charlie drops a kiss on his forehead. “Yup. Gin and your team are all right here. They can’t do too much damage.” She points to her brothers. “Behave, or I will feed you to Pepper.”

“Uh…” Tony turns a baffled expression toward his CEO, curled into a massively overstuffed chair across the room.

Charlie rolls her eyes. “I’ve a dragon called Pepper, love.” She kicks Steve’s foot. “Up and at ‘em, dear Captain, time to feed the troops.”

Steve startles a bit, but waked and follows readily enough.

By the time Charlie and Steve have whipped up enough pancakes, bacon, and eggs to feed a small army, JARVIS informs her that the twins have joined Tony in the lab. Charlie and Ginny exchange horrified looks.

“JARVIS, Snape Protocol. Immediately,” Charlie commands.

“As you wish, madam,” JARVIS responds.

"What, exactly, does Snape Protocol do?" Nat asks.

"Shuts down Tony's labs," Charlie answers. "Complete blackout. Only Pepper and I have the authority to activate it."

Two minutes later, Tony and the twins exit the elevator, all wearing scowls.

Charlie holds up a hand. “Before you even start, _no_. The levels of horror the three of you could come up with left unattended in a lab is not something this world is prepared for.”

The twins scarf down breakfast with the Avengers, trading some of the more bizarre war stories, keeping the mood light, before flooing back to Diagon Alley, Ginny in tow.

Tony wraps his arms around Charlie’s waist and slumps against her back, hooking his chin over her shoulder. “That’s all your family, right? Like, I’ve met them all?”

“Nearly,” Charlie rests her arms over his. “Just my brother Ron and my brother-in-law Harry left. You’ll likely not meet them until Christmas, though. Work keeps them awfully busy.”

Tony’s face goes blank. “Christmas?”

She turns in his embrace and twines her arms around his neck. “Mhm, Chrsitmas. No way mum’ll let us out of it now that she’s actually met you.”

Tony’s eyes go wide.

Charlie smiles a bit sadly. “Sometimes I forget how small of a family you grew up with.” She kisses him lightly. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you from being smothered.”

True to her word, Charlie plants herself directly on Tony’s lap for most of Christmas day, never leaving him alone with anyone but Ginny.

Molly manages to corner her in the kitchen. “Charlie, dear…”

“Yeah, mum?”

“Does… well, does your husband not like us?”

Charlie’s eyes fly wide. “Oh, no, mum, he _adores_ all of you. It’s just… well, we’re a bit overwhelming. You remember how Harry was when he first came ‘round? Tony… his family was small, and… well, not near as warm as ours. His dad was a right prat, honest. We’re a bit overwhelming at the best of times.”

Molly immediately softens and, by some stroke of magic Charlie is certain she will never be able to imitate, actually manages to tone her family down enough that Tony begins to relax and engage.

The press has a field day with the clearly hand knit red and gold sweater he sports at his annual New Year’s party, and an eve bigger field day with the mysterious redhead in a matching sweater.


	4. She's good with animals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: These chapters are NOT in any kind of chronological order.

4) She’s good with animals.

They’re at the Central Park Zoo. _Tour the Zoo with the Avengers!_ Charlie’s not sure who came up with the fundraiser, but she thinks they’re bloody brilliant. She’d allowed Pepper to dress her in muggle clothes - sandals, jean shorts, and a tank top emblazoned with the Stark Industries logo - and is thoroughly enjoying confusing the muggle press. They’ve been trying to figure out who she is since Tony’s New Year’s party. There’s at least three betting pools on when they figure it out.

Charlie wanders over to where Tony is talking animatedly about how smart the octopus behind him is. She wraps an arm around his waist and he absently wraps an arm around her shoulders as he continues his story about an octopus sneaking out of its tank. He finishes the story before he seems to realize Charlie’s now tucked into his side.

He grins down at her. “Well, hello there, gorgeous.”

Charlie feels a tug on her jeans and looks down to see a little boy nearly plastered to her leg. “Who’re you?”

She smiles. “I’m Charlie.”

“Are you an Avenger?” Another little boy asks.

“No, but I’m their friend.”

A little girl raises her hand. “Do you know about octopuses?”

“Octopi,” Charlie corrects lightly. “And I know more about squids.”

“What’s your favorite animal?” The first little boy asks.

Charlie winks. “Dragons.”

The little girl giggles. “Dragons aren’t real.”

Charlie smiles brightly. “Very well. Lions, then.”

Of course that’s when the screaming starts.

Tony snags a fleeing patron by the arm. “Hey! What’s going on?”

The guy point frantically over his shoulder. “Lions out!”

Tony releases his hold and exchanges a look with Charlie and sees her resolve harden. “Charlie, you can’t.”

Charlie pats his cheek. “I’m better equipped than any of your team, love, and you know it.”

He huffs out a frustrated breath and yanks Charlie behind an informational display before he pulls what looks like one of the masks she’s seen people wearing in muggle hospitals out of his pocket. “At least cover your face. Hermione’s been helping with this. Your magic shouldn’t interfere with it.”

Charlie hooks it over her ears and uses Tony’s sunglasses to view her reflection. Her face vanishes under a gold, almost Venetian style mask, and her clothes disappear under a red tac suit and darker gold, hooded cloak drapes over her shoulders. She grins up at him. “Very nice.”

Tony shrugs. “It’s just an illusion. Still working on turning it into actual armor. Be careful.”

Charlie winks and takes off in the direction everyone else is running from. “Keep the kids safe!”

She finds the rest of the Avengers warily circling three lions prowling outside their enclosure.

“Looking a little green around the gills there, Bruce,” she calls.

The Avengers’ heads swivel toward her.

She grins. “Why don’t you lot look after the civilians?”

“Uh, the lions?” Clint asks, arrow already knocked.

Charlie rolls her eyes and waves a hand toward the nearest lion, once again sparing a silent thank you to the American witch who had taught her how to charm her wand into the bangle around her wrist. “ _Expecto Patronum_!” Charlie’s silvery blue dragon bursts from her hand and it twines around her rubbing its head against her hand. It hooks his head over her shoulder and eyes the lions warily. Charlie steps away from her patronus and bows low toward the lions. “I mean you no harm, my friends.” The lions tilt their heads curiously. Charlie holds a hand up, palm down, until the nearest lion slowly approaches and butts it’s head up against her hand. She smiles and scritches behind it’s ears. “I don’t suppose I could convince you to return to your enclosure peacefully?” She flicks her free hand toward the heavy gates, jammed partially open, and her patronus floats through the opening. The lions turn and follow. Charlie trails behind until she’s in the enclosure with the lions before turning her back on the creatures and lifting a hand to the gates. “ _Reparo_.” She pets each of the lions in turn before apparating back out to the viewing area and recalling her patronus.

The Avengers are still standing in their loose circle.

Charlie rolls her eyes and scoffs. “Whole lot of good you lot would’ve done for the civilians if those lions hadn’t cooperated.”


	5. She hates the color green

5) She hates the color green.

“I don’t understand why this damn experiment requires the whole bloody tower to be freezing. I swear if Tony doesn’t sort it soon, I’ll charm his whole bloody arsenal pink.” Charlie growls threateningly.

“Shall I relay your message to sir in his labs, madam?” JARVIS asks.

Charlie just groans and draws her knees up to her chin, wrapping her arms around her legs, muttering another warming charm under her breath. Something heavy drops across her shoulders and she automatically grips at the hand knit blanket. She turns her face up intent on thanking her rescuer, but catches sight of the green and silver knit as she does so and tosses it off in disgust.

Darcy props her hands on her hips. “What the hell?”

Charlie scrunches her nose. “Thanks, but I’ll freeze.”

Darcy quirks an eyebrow.

Pepper walks in, takes in the scene, and crosses her arms over her chest. “One of these days, you’re going to have to let go of petty grade school prejudice.”

Charlie pouts and wraps her arms back around her legs.

“Do you like anything green?” Darcy asks.

“My dragons,” Charlie answers immediately. “And the Hulk.”

Darcy rolls her eyes and waves a hand over the blanket, still resting next to Charlie on the couch, and it turns red and gold.

Charlie looks up, shock clear on her face. “Wha-?”

“Darcy Lewis,” she executes a mocking bow, “Ilvermorny alum, at your service.”

Charlie blanches. “Any relation to Mercy Lewis?”

Darcy just grins.

“So, how’d you do that without a wand?”


	6. If her dragons trust you, she trusts you

6) If her dragons trust you, she trusts you.

It took an act of Congress in conglomeration with about five acts from the combined offices of MACUSA and the British Ministry of Magic to get approval for the Avengers to visit Charlie’s dragon reserve in Romania. No one’s quite sure how that came to include Darcy, but she always seems to be present for the important things - both fun and dangerous, and this is both.

Charlie surveys the group of assembled heroes and company in amusement until her gaze lands on Loki. Her eyes narrow and she whistles sharply. “Oy! Where’s your keeper?”

Loki turns his gaze slowly toward her. “I beg your pardon.”

Charlie raises an eyebrow.

Loki  _ almost _ flinches, but manages to keep himself in check and turns the tick into a lazy wave toward the base of the nearest mountain.

Charlie rolls her eyes. “Pep!”

Her cousin turns toward her.

“Keep an eye on the would-be world dictator while I go make sure my dragons didn’t eat his babysitter.”

Loki huffs. “I do not require a minder.”

Charlie plants a kiss on the crown of his head as she passes his seat. “I beg to differ.”

Loki grimaces at the action. “Need I remind you my magic is bound?”

Charlie smirks on her way away from their campsite. “Hardly, seeing as it’s my own magic that binds yours. But you are hardly helpless without your magic, god of Mischief.”

Charlie, working on a hunch, makes her way to the cave where her most recent litter of pygmy drakes nests. Sure enough, Darcy is cross-legged in front of the nest, all but one of the dozen baby dragons clambering over her in obvious delight.

Charlie smiles softly. “They like you.”

Darcy startles, then returns the smile. “The feeling is mutual.”

Charlie quirks a brow. “You left your charge.”

Darcy scoffs. “He’s harmless. Besides, it’s not like there isn’t enough power out there to hold him in check without me.”

“Beside the point. He was entirely too casual about me asking where you were. What are you up to and how does it involve my dragons?”

Darcy just smirks and Charlie watches quietly as Darcy gently coaxes the remaining pygmy from the corner where it’s been eying her distrustfully. Ever so slowly, it creeps into Darcy’s outstretched palm and Darcy coos over it.

Charlie groans. “Okay, that little shit never trusts anyone. Whatever you’re up to, have at it. Just take Loki with you next time.”

Darcy offers a lazy salute with the hand the reluctant little red drake is curled around before lowering it and scratching the little guys head. “I’m calling this one Smaug.”

***

Darcy reads the papers in her hands three times before squealing and launching herself at Charlie in a full-on tackle hug. 

Charlie catches her as best as she can, but they both end up in a pile of limbs in the middle of the couch, half on top of Tony and Loki, seated as far as possible from each other on opposite ends of the couch. Both men do, however, deign to help the women disentangle themselves and shift into upright positions.

Darcy bounces around to face Charlie again. “Really?”

Charlie nods. “Merry Christmas, Darcy. Smaug is officially yours.”

Darcy squeals again, earning an indignant puff of smoke in her ear from the aforementioned drake.

“Now, I don’t expect you to hide him. However…”

Darcy nods. “People can’t have a clue dragons actually exist on earth.”

“We are all agreed upon that,” Thor interjects. “Therefore, mother has agreed upon supporting a small falsehood. As you are, technically, an officially recognized member of the Asgardian royal court, she has agreed to support a ruse claiming that your little drake was a boon of the throne.”

Darcy beams. “So I get to keep the dragon  _ and _ publicly claim Asgardian royalty?”

Charlie nods. “Essentially, yeah.”

The brunette’s eyes sparkle. “Wicked.”

***

“Not dignifying that with an answer,” Tony scoffs at a too nosy reporter. “Next.”

Christine Everhart stands. “Two questions.”

Tony grins. “Make ‘em snappy  _ and  _ relevant, and I’ll let you have both.”

Christine grins. “The first is actually for your PR manager.”

Tony quirks an eyebrow toward Darcy.

Darcy aims finger guns at the reporter. “Shoot.”

“Pardon the possibility of sounding insane, but is that a  _ dragon _ in your hair?”

Darcy grins and coaxes the little guy from her hair onto her hand. “It is.”

“Where on earth did you get a dragon?”

“Not on earth.”

The blonde raises an expectant brow.

“A boone of Asgard,” Thor offers, “from my mother’s personal menagerie. The queen is rather fond of the Lady Darcy.”

“Lady Darcy?” Another reporter asks from somewhere in the crowd.

“Aye,” Thor nods. “My little shield sister has been an official member of Asgard’s court for many moons.”

“Miss Everhart,” Darcy interjects before the topic can drag out, “I believe you had a second question.”

Christine nods. “Mr. Stark, the question has been asked what seems like countless times since New Years, but I can’t help but hope persistence pays off. Care to comment on the mysterious redhead you’ve been seen with so much this year?”

Tony leans forward, making a show craning his neck toward Pepper, standing at the edge of the room. “Hey, Pep, since when have you been considered a mystery?”

The crowd laughs.

Even Christine grins. “I am not talking about Miss Potts, and everyone here knows it.”

Tony leans back, balancing his chair on its back legs and grins. “Fair enough. What do you think, gang? Should we introduce Charlie?”

There’s a mad scrabbling of pens as the gathered press take the name down.

Steve rolls his eyes at his teammate’s antics. “You actually care what we think about it?”

Nat smirks, her amusement shining in her eyes, if barely showing on her face. “Cap’s got a point. Effects you more than the team.”

Tony scoffs. “Like I’ve ever given a damn what anyone thinks of me. Charlie, you here, babe?”

Tony feels more than sees Charlie coming up from the edge of the stage and tilts his head back with a smile when she rests her hands on his shoulders.

She smiles back. “You asked for me, love?”

Clint, next to Tony, slides out of his chair and offers the seat to Charlie. She takes it with a smile and a thanks before settling himself on the back of Nat’s chair, legs tucked against her back.

Charlie’s the only one close enough to see the breath Tony carefully draws. She’s also the only one close enough to feel the trembles in his hand as he grasps hers. She offers a reassuring squeeze and smile. Despite the fact that this announcement was planned months in advance, she understands it’s nerve wracking.

Tony’s casual smugness slides back into place in the space of a blink and her turns his gaze back to the crowd over his sunglasses. “Ladies and gentlemen of the press, may I present my wife, Charlie.”

Pandemonium breaks out for a solid five minutes before Darcy manages to get the press back under control.

The first reporter called on in the aftermath asks a blatantly uncouth question about Tony’s sordid past with women. Before anyone can retort, the man screeches and drops his flaming notebook. Darcy and Charlie both cackle like mad as Smaug drifts back across the room to settle on Darcy’s shoulder as the crowd filters out.


	7. She doesn't see in black and white

7) She doesn’t see in black and white.

It takes Pepper a long time to realize that her cousin isn’t like other wizards. _Especially_ unlike most European wizards. Pepper grew up homeschooled by a squib mother and tutored in magic by a strict grandmother in a country where magic is one of the most open secrets in existence and diversity is the status quo. The Weasley’s, while not wealthy, are pure bloods, and Charlie attended Hogwarts, where the children are literally separated into social groups on their very first day. While the Weasley’s were by no means intolerant or hateful - they were some of the most welcoming people Pepper had ever met - they were largely ignorant of the ways of the rest of the human world. Charlie, by sheer determination and effort, is less ignorant than most, but her little village in Romania could only provide so much context.

Pepper remembers being surprised, though, going to Hogsmeade with Charlie one weekend to visit the younger Weasley’s and watching Charlie defend a young Slytherin boy from an older group of Ravenclaws.

_“What?” Charlie all but snarls toward Pepper over the sniffling kid’s head._

_Pepper shrugs lightly. “He’s a Slytherin. Thought you hated Slytherin house."_

_Charlie glares. “He’s a kid, Pep.”_

***

Clint snarls as he lets another arrow fly, deflected like the every other he’d tried. “Who the hell are these people?”

“Wizards, if I had to guess,” Tony’s voice ventures over the comms.

“Ding, ding,” Charlie confirms, “the tin can got it in one.”

“Are they not supposed to be more subtle than such antics?” Thor demands.

“Dark wizards have never been overly fond of such restrictions,” Charlie responds breathlessly.

“They’ve got Pepper and Darcy pinned down in the lobby of the Tower,” Nat chimes in. “Shit. And Loki.”

“Pep, Darce, Loki, can you hear me?”

“Yeah,” Darcy answers, voice low, “we can hear you.”

“What’s going on?”

Pepper’s obviously frustrated. “They bound our magic.”

“Bollocks,” Charlie curses.

“Charlie,” Loki’s voice is strained, “I - _aaagh_!”

“Loki!”

“He’s using himself as a human shield,” Nat provides. “They’re trying to throw curses at Pepper and Darcy.”

“Oh, bugger it all! Tony, I need to get in sight of them.”

“Charlie, if these guys can bind Pep and Darce, what’s to stop them from binding you?” Tony protests.

“They’re not gonna get the chance,” Charlie insists. “I just have to get close enough to unbind Loki.”

Multiple protests sound in her ear.

“Oh, hush, the lot of you! Tony! Get me a sight line.”

Tony heaves a sigh.”Incoming on your six.”

Charlie turns, ready to sling her arm around Tony’s neck as he swoops her up, bridal style. She beams and pecks a kiss to the side of his mask.

“We’re off the main comm channel,” Tony’s voice sounds through her ear. “Are you sure about this?”

Charlie smiles at him. “I’m sure, love. The man would burn the world down for Darcy’s sake, but he’d also protect it just because she asked him to.”

“You could stop them.”

Charlie nods. “I could. But the whole world is watching. And it wouldn’t be safe for my world to know how different my magic is from theirs.”

Tony nods and turns backwards to crash through one of the lobby windows and drop Charlie on a balcony overlooking it. Charlie raises a hand toward the group. “ _Renodo_.”


	8. She's stronger than she lets on

8) She’s stronger than she lets on.

After the incident at the zoo, someone called her masked alter-ego Gilgamesh, and much to her delight it stuck. She’s fairly certain most think she’s some minor deity, along the lines of Thor and Loki, and she lets the illusion stand. Between the mask and lack of a wand, the word witch isn’t thrown out with any serious intent behind it, so the Ministry leaves her to her own devices. She’s not surprised that whatever wannabe dark lord is attacking them would try to take advantage of the apparent leniency in New York. The group is stronger than she expected, though, and when they pin Pepper, Darcy, and Loki down, immobilizing Pepper and Darcy in the process, she doesn’t even have to think twice about unbinding Loki’s magic.

***

_“Aren’t I supposed to be tried by you magicals?” Loki asks casually as Charlie swings him over the base of Daisy’s neck._

_Charlie hums noncommittally. “We’re a bit harsher in Europe than the Americans, and you did cause a bit of a mess in Germany. Sleep while you can, we’ve a long journey.”_

_“Are you sure about taking him back by yourself?” Tony actually sounds worried._

_It makes Charlie smile. “I’m not alone, love, I’ve got Daisy.”_

_Tony frowns. “I still don’t like it. Daisy’s great an all, but this guy just tried to take over the earth with an alien army. And you’re taking him_ and _his power source together back across the ocean essentially on your own.”_

_Charlie leans into him and wraps her arms around his waist, tucks her head into his shoulder. “I’ll be fine love.”_

_Tony sighs, defeated, and drops a kiss to her head. “Be careful. Now go, before Pointbreak wakes up.”_

_***_

_They speak surprisingly little on the trip back to Romania, and Loki does eventually fall asleep. When he wakes up, he’s untied, and laid out on a sofa in a pleasantly lived in room. Out the open door, he can see Stark’s woman waving a stick - a wand, upon closer inspection - through the air, leaving trails of water floating about her in some nonsensical game with a group of young dragons. He catches himself before he smiles, and slowly pushes to his feet, surprised at the utter lack of twinging wounds. He carefully examines himself and finds all his wounds from the battle healed and gone. He’s also in clean clothes - dark linen pants and a red and gold sweater emblazoned with a ‘B’. He grimaces at the colors and slowly makes his way to the doorway. He gasps and stumbles to his knees when he tries to call on his magic._

_“Wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Charlie calls cheerily._

_Loki gasps for air and glares up at her through his hair. “What have you done to me, you mortal wench?”_

_Charlie tsks. “So rude. If even half of Thor’s stories of your mother are true, I know she taught you better tha-”_

_Loki surges to his feet. “You dare speak of my moth-”_

_Charlie raises a hand - the one not holding her wand - and throws him against the doorframe. “Yes, I dare! I dare a great many things, Loki of Asgard, because you attacked my home!”_

_Loki reaches again for his magic as she sets him back on his feet, and crumples to the ground for his efforts. He sits up, panting. “What have you done to me?”_

_“I bound your magic.”_

_“You,” Loki observes. “Not your government._ You _.”_

_Charlie dips her chin in a nod. “I also pulled some git called Thanos out of your head, by the way. You’re welcome.”_

_Loki slumps back against the wall. “You…” He takes a moment and, for the first time ever, intentionally tries to call on Thanos’ hold on his mind. He can’t find it. After several minutes of hysterical laughter, he looks up at Charlie. “How? You… you, madam, are unlike any Midgardian witch I have ever encountered before.”_

_Charlie looks at him, silent for long moments. “Can I trust you, god of lies?”_

_Loki scoffs. “Would you believe me if I said yes?”_

_Charlie shrugs lightly. “Come along.”_

_Loki looks pointedly at his bare feet._

_Charlie laughs. “Check the closet just inside the door there. Your boots are there.”_

_Loki retrieves his boots and finally makes his way all the way out into the clearing where Charlie is patiently petting one of her dragons. He plucks at his sweater. “Who is ‘B’? If you don’t mind my asking.”_

_“My older brother Bill.” Charlie grins fondly and starts walking, clearly expecting Loki to follow. He does. “We’ve all got gobs of these sweaters. Mum makes ‘em for us every Christmas. Reckon we’ve all likely got one or two of each other’s layin’ about our respective homes.”_

_“Lovely.”_

_Silence falls as they hike further into the mountains. It’s surprisingly comfortable._

_Charlie holds out a hand when they reach the mouth of a cave under the shadow of a cliff face._

_Loki quirks an eyebrow._

_Charlie rolls her eyes. “The wards won’t allow you to pass without me.”_

_Loki takes her hand, feels  the familiar resistance of foreign magic against his skin as she pulls him forward. The cavern they enter takes Loki’s breath away. Jewels, minerals, veins of gold and silver - all that and more glitter from the walls. And it’s massive, beyond what even a mountain this size should be able to support. It takes him several minutes to notice the two most important features in the cave -  the Tesseract, glowing brightly on a dias against the back wall, and a truly massive gray dragon curled in a nest in the farthest reaches of the cave. Charlie is bowing to the dragon. Loki, on instinct, mimics her._

_She smile approvingly. “Her name has been lost to time, but I call her Elder.”_

_Loki can feel the magic in the air as the dragon observes him. It feels familiar. “She is why your magic is different.”_

_Charlie straightens and nods._

_“I know you do not trust me,” Loki straightens and meets Charlie’s eyes. “So why do you show me this place?”_

_Charlie chuckles. “You will not remember how to find it again when you leave it, but I thought you could benefit from Elder’s wisdom. I’ll retrieve you in a few days.”_

***

“ _Renodo_.”

Loki’s eyes flash up to meet Charlie’s, just for a fleeting moment - long enough to assure what he felt was real - before a near feral grin spreads across his face, and his magic lashes out in waves. Charlie can feel it pulsing through the air, and when it visibly manifests itself, his standard green is mixed with various shades of gray.

The battle is short lived after that.

Pepper corners Charlie the moment Charlie emerges on the common floor, hair still wet from the shower. “You never took him to the Ministry.”

Charlie shakes her head. “I never even took him to MACUSA.”

“Why?”

“They could not have contained my magic,” Loki answers, materializing at Charlie’s side.

Pepper jumps. “Shit, don’t do that!” She takes a deep breath. “So the Ministry never bound your magic, but your magic _was_ bound?”

Loki nods.

“And you’ve been with Charlie all this time, without causing any problems?”

Loki shrugs elegantly. “She is a formidable force.”

Pepper, clearly giving up on a straight answer, shakes her head. “You’re crazy. But however, whatever, whyever you’re different from the rest of us, Char… thank Merlin for that.” She turns toward Loki, kisses him on the cheek. “Thank you for saving us.”

Charlie has the decency to try and hide her snickers behind her hand when Loki blushes.


	9. She loves Tony

9) She loves Tony.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Clint slurs drunkenly. “They had an arranged marriage?”

Pepper shakes her head. “No, not arranged. It was… a con. Confidence. Convergence. Convalescent -”

“Convenience?” Darcy ventures.

Pepper snaps and smiles. “That’s it! Marriage of convenience.”

“To what purpose?” Loki asks. “They are clearly more than fond of each other.”

“Secret,” Pepper giggles.

“Then why’d you tell us?” Clint whines.

Pepper shakes her head. “No. Secrets. That’s why they got married. Why I married Rhodey.”

“You’re married to Rhodey?! Since when do we not know everything, Nat?”

Nat snorts indelicately. “Speak for yourself. What do secrets have to do with getting married, though?”

“Secrets,” Pepper insists, then frowns. “No. That’s not right. Not secrets. Secrecy.”

“Oh!” Darcy sits up. “The Statute!”

Pepper smiles broadly. “Yes! That!”

Clint frowns. “Still not making sense.”

“The British Ministry of Magic,” Darcy explains, slowly enunciating each word, “has a strict Statute of Secrecy. People without magic aren’t supposed to know about magic unless they’re married to someone with magic.”

“That’s archaic,” Nat sneers.

Pepper nods slowly. “Char used too much magic when she saved Tony. They didn’t like it.”

Bruce frowns thoughtfully. “When she saved Tony?”

“From the desert,” Pepper mumbles sleepily.

“But… Iron Man?”

A small snore escapes Pepper and chuckles from the door draw the attention of the rest of the group.

Rhodey strides across the room and scoops her into his arms.

“Didn’t realize she was a lightweight,” Darcy mutters.

Rhodey eyeballs the tumbler near where Pepper had been seated. “She’s not, but whisky makes her drowsy.”

“Go tuck princess in bed,” Charlie grins and shoves Tony lightly into Pepper’s vacated corner of the couch, dropping into his lap once he settles. “We’ll field the rest of the interrogation.”

Nat quirks an eyebrow at them expectantly.

Charlie turns sideways, snuggling against Tony and tucking her feet under Clint’s leg. “Tony saved himself from the cave. That is the true origin of Iron Man.”

“But I would have died in that desert without Charlie,” Tony continues.

“What did you do?” Darcy asks.

Charlie takes a deep breath. “It took awhile for me to hear he was missing. I keep an Unplottable cabin on the Romanian coast to work with a school of sea serpents. I’d been there for over a month when I came back home and found Pepper in my living room. I apparated to Tony’s mansion in Malibu. Did a spot of grayish blood magic, apparated to Bumfuck, Afghanistan, made sure he was alive, then sent my Patronus for Rhodey and made sure Tony kept moving the right direction.”

“Bullshit,” Darcy snorts.

Charlie just quirks an eyebrow.

“It is not possible to apparate transcontinentally once, much less twice in the space of mere hours. That’s why we have portkeys. That kind of power… it doesn’t exist in humans, wizard or not.”

Charlie huffs in frustration and runs a hand through already-messy red curls.

Loki turns a solemn gaze toward Charlie. “May I?”

Charlie nods gratefully. “Would you please?”

“The Lady Stark’s magic… it unlike Darcy and Pepper’s. There are elements of your magic that are similar, but her magic... It is primal, elemental in and of itself. It has something to do with her dragons. I do not believe I am at liberty to say more than that.”

Charlies nods. “Aye, that about sums it. Anyway, the Ministry doesn’t know the level of power I really have. They assumed I used illegal Portkeys and basic trackers, and I let them. Legally dubious, and still very strong magic - strong enough they couldn’t ignore it. I could either make it legal for Tony an and Rhodey to know, or I could Obliviate them.”

“Obliviate?” Bruce asks.

“Erase their memories,” Darcy answers solemnly.

Clint blanches. “You can do that?”

Charlie and Darcy both nod.

Charlie wraps an arm around Tony’s neck and leans her forehead against his in a gesture so intimate the team feels like they’re intruding simply by witnessing it. “I couldn’t bear the thought of even a shred of such a beautiful mind being altered.”

Tony pecks her on the lips. “Sap.”

Charlie shrugs. “Your sap.”

Darcy groans and throws a pillow at them. “Get a room.”


	10. Tony loves her

10) Tony loves her.

“Are we boring you, Miss Weasley?” Shacklebolt’s voice draws Charlie from her daydreaming.

Charlie blinks the Minister’s face into focus and straightens from her slouch. “First of all, Kingsley,” she sneers, “I was under the impression we’d been on a first name basis for a number of years now. If that’s not the case, then I insist on being addressed appropriately - it’s  _ Mrs. _ Stark.” She lifts her bound hands up in front of her face, flashing an almost gaudy ring - a truly massive, flawless canary diamond flanked by two equally impressive rubies set against an intricately carved, wide gold band. Frankly, Charlie’s thought more than once it would be obnoxious if the design weren’t so elegant, but that’s not her point at the moment.

“Charlie,” Kingsley’s expression softens. “I’m sorry, but you must understand I am in an awkward position at the moment. Your actions as the superhero, as the muggles call them, Avengers ally Gilgamesh puts our community as a whole in danger of discovery.”

Charlie examines the people seated around the dias before her - the Ministers, or whatever their equivalent title is, of every major wizarding community in the world. Her judges and jury. She rolls her eyes.

“Please take this seriously,” Kingsley all but begs.

Charlie heaves a sigh. “Very well.” She lifts her hands in front of her again, the magical bindings around her wrists dissolving into nothing.

The collective gasp of the Ministers is almost drowned out by their mad scramble for their wands - which were checked outside the Chambers, Charlie’s included.

“Impossible,” Kingsley breathes.

Charlie stands and stretches. “Precisely.” She levels a steady look at the dias. “We are here because what I do is impossible by the standards of the magical community, and we do have a terrible history of punishing that which we do not understand.”

The Chinese Minister seems to find her voice. “What you do is understandable - it is magic. And your blatant disregard for subtly breaks the laws and precedents of countless treaties.”

Charlie’s smile is sharp, showing far too many teeth. “What I do  _ is _ magic. But it is not magic as the wizarding community understands it. I checked my wand at the door just like the rest of you. And yet here I stand, unbound by your spelled ropes, and unbound by the restrictions of wands and spells.” She silently summons her Patronus and lets it fly lazily about the room, never moving her gaze from the dias. More than a few sets of wide eyes follow the shimmering creature. “What I do cannot be quantified by the laws of the wizarding world’s magic, and that frustrates you as magic in and of itself frustrates my husband. But unlike Tony, who accepts it as a part of me, you fear what you cannot understand. You cannot govern what you cannot understand. With all due respect, this Council holds no power over me. And rest assured,  _ if _ you do manage to find a magic that can hold me, my husband will never stop searching for me. And all your Statutes of Secrecy will be abolished immediately, because he will expose the magical world to the rest of the world, and then burn it down to find me.”

As if on queue, the ceiling of the Council chambers caves in. Thor lands just behind her right shoulder as Loki flickers into view on the opposite side. Bucky and Steve repel down, flanking Thor and Loki. Charlie glances up and sees Clint, bow in hand, and Natasha, rifle in hand, braced on the lowered ramp of the hovering quinjet. Daisy, Darcy on her back, lands on the edge of the destroyed roof with a roar.

Tony, in full Iron Man armor, lands in front her, placing himself directly between Charlie and the Council. “She’s right, of course. I’d really rather it not come to that, though. It would be a PR  _ nightmare _ and Pep would have my ass. And if Pep’s mad at me, then Rhodey’s mad at me, and considering they’re two of the three people in the  _ world _ with the codes to ban me from my labs… well let’s just say it’s best avoided.” He turns his face toward Charlie, mask sliding away as he does. “You okay, sweetheart?”

Charlie wraps her arms around his waist and squeezes, knowing the sensors on the suit will pick up the action, and smiles at him. “Bloody brilliant, love.”

He smiles softly. “Good. Ready to blow this joint?”

Charlie rolls her eyes. “I was ready an hour ago. What took you so long?”

Tony shrugs. “You told me not to worry unless it hit the twenty four hour mark.”

Charlie flicks her eyes down to the watch on her wrist. “It’s only been twenty, dear.”

He has the grace to look  _ almost _ sheepish. “I got impatient.”

“And the whole Avengers assembled bit?”

Tony gives Steve a pointed look and Charlie turns in time to see him flushing bright red.

The good Captain  _ actually _ looks sheepish for a moment before resolve fills his eyes and he straightens, meeting Charlie’s gaze head on. He gestures to Tony. “This lug is unbearable when you’re not around. Darcy let slip exactly why you were gone and… well, we all thought it was pretty foolish. Tony’s besotted and you’ve got the whole team wrapped around your fucking pinky finger, Char. We weren’t gonna let them try and take you away from Tony.”

Charlie blinks back tears.

Tony brings a hand to his chest and gasps dramatically. “Such language, Captain! You kiss babies with that mouth?”

Charlie flicks his nose gently. “Hush, you wanker. That was fucking lovely.”

Tony smiles at her again before his mask slides back into place. “And on that note, we’ll be going.” He turns and scoops her up, bridal style, and launches out of the gaping hole in the roof.

Loki steps forward. “It would not be wise to make a move against the Lady Stark. Should you choose to make such an attempt, you will be faced with yet another form of magic you cannot even begin to fathom.”

A wave of green erupts from the gods hands, and by the time the Ministers are unfrozen, the only evidence of the incident was the wide open sky where the ceiling once was.


End file.
